Making Christmas Memories to Last a Lifetime

MERRY CHRISTMAS, parents & grandparents! We will continue our lessons next time, but this week I would like to share some great ways to enjoy the holiday season with your family.  

You will be making memories in the days ahead. You will want them to make your child smile for many years to come. It’s so good to make the holiday more than gifts. Enjoy special moments together that make the season so magical.

I want to share some of our holiday family traditions. Maybe there is something your kids would enjoy. I’ve added a few ideas that other families enjoy as well.

• For years we would always sit around the den before we open gifts and share what the year has meant to us. Some years there were awesome milestones of joy in our lives, some brought loss, some were tough to say the least. This time together was so bonding. We would give God the glory for His blessings, give thanks for Him helping us through the journey and then pray for guidance in the year ahead. We always made a video as each child and adult from 2 and up would talk about their year that was coming to a close. The Lord loves to be included in our Christmas family time.
• The past few years we took a different turn and instead of just talking from our hearts, everyone now writes a poem beforehand. It covers the highlights from the past 12 months. They are touching, funny and amazing. Some rhyme, some don’t. It’s whatever goes! The kids write one too. We laugh, we cry, we smile. We love this time of reminiscing. What a wonderful tradition to add to your family Christmas. I compile these poems and place them in a memory book for a keepsake.
• Have the little ones tell the Christmas story before they open gifts. This teaches them the reason behind the celebration.
• Our family can’t celebrate Christmas without baking. (Fudge is a favorite!) Letting their creative side come out by building a gingerbread house or decorating cookies makes for great bonding moments with your kids.
• Since we live in VA where snow is not typical around Christmas, we don’t get to play in the snow as a family much. We have two kids and their families that live in Richmond, one in upstate VA and the other in LA, so Christmas is the time they all come to “grandma’s house” and have a blast for a few days. I take the leap and remove every breakable thing out of the den and we make two forts with chairs. I bought the soft snowballs and the little ones (and the big ones) have a blast with a snowball fight. The music is playing, the atmosphere is electric with laughter. Who needs real snow?  
• We have “music time” each year. We enjoy blaring fun Christmas songs where everyone sings along and jumps and moves to the music. Our kids have to have this tradition each year. It’s so much fun!
• Christmas karaoke is always a great idea! Give each person a makeshift mic and give the stage to each child. 
• Play games! Make up games! Once we created snowmen with the kids out of toilet paper. They loved it.
• Our family loves to sing. We enjoy times when we gather around the piano and sing Christmas carols together.  
• We have a special family dinner that we all look forward to each year. The adults get all dressed up and we all go to an extra nice restaurant. This is a highlight of the season for us. (The kids have a party too!)
• No Christmas is complete without a photo shoot. It’s so much fun to take pics in front of the decorated tree, outside all bundled up or wherever is special for your family. Our family shares the pics on Google photos to where we can all have access. You’ll want to remember all the fun family times. Photos allow you to relive the memories year after year.
  

  Never a dull moment with our family together!

  

• It would be so awesome for your family to think together of someone in need, a senior, a disabled friend or a lonely single and take them some homemade cookies and card as a family. One of our daughters and her family sometimes takes gifts down to the children at the hospital to spread some cheer. It provides a healthy perspective to life, especially during the holidays. Teaching our kids the joy of giving is such good thing. It will bless those who receive and your family too.
• Bundle the kids up and take them to the neighbors or someone with a special need during the holidays and sing some carols. Let your family be the ones to bless someone with smiles as you spread Christmas joy.
• We love gathering everyone together in a van (all 18 of us) to go see Christmas lights. Grab some Starbucks and enjoy the fun and beauty of the season together.
• We save the stockings for Christmas Day since we open our gifts on Christmas Eve. This way the kids enjoy opening gifts on two days instead of one. It gives a little something to look forward to the next day. If you spend the time and money, why not drag out the gift giving as long as you can. That’s my thinking!

I’m certain you have your own traditions, so whatever they are, keep up the fun!  I pray this season is the best EVER and your family grows closer than ever.

Blessings to everyone from our house to yours. And thanks for all the positive feedback on this blog. I really enjoying sharing what I have learned and experienced down through the years.

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Merry Christmas!